Adele has broken records by chalking up the fastest-selling album of 2021 in the first week of its release.
The album, 30, has overtaken Abba’s Voyage by racking up 261,000 sales in its first seven days, according to the Official UK Charts.
It has become the 33-year-old’s fourth UK number one album, a record for a female act. All of Adele’s previous albums, – 25, 21 and 19 – also featured in the chart this week.
The album, which comes after her split with ex-husband Simon Konecki, is also the biggest first-week for an album since Ed Sheeran’s Divide in 2017.
It is also the most-streamed album of the week, with 55.7 million plays across its 12 tracks, after fans waited six years for its release.
The Brit Award and Grammy winner spent the week in a three-way chart battle with herself before Easy On Me claimed a sixth consecutive week at number one.
The song is now Adele’s longest-running number one, overtaking Someone Like You, according to the Official UK Charts.
The album’s total sales were made up of 67 per cent physical sales and is this week’s biggest seller on vinyl, with 16,700 copies sold on wax.
Elsewhere, on this week’s Official Albums Chart, Oasis have shot to number four with the live recording of their Knebworth 1996 gig. James Blunt’s greatest hits collection The Stars Beneath My Feet debuts at number nine.
Michael Buble’s Christmas album is this week’s biggest gainer on the Official Albums Chart, rising 39 places to number 17.
It follows the similar rise of Christmas classics from Mariah Carey and Wham! on the Official Singles Chart.
